Nadal nails it at U.S. Open

NEW YORK — For seven years, Rafael Nadal deposited his share of skin and blood and sweat and effort on the imposing blue court in the middle of the biggest tennis stadium in the world.

At the end of the eighth year, he collapsed and rolled over, his face to the ground, exhausted while he celebrated — knowing that finally, he would take something away from the court where he'd left so much.

The top-seeded Nadal won the U.S. Open trophy and completed the career Grand Slam on Monday in a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 3 Novak Djokovic. Nadal became only the seventh player to win championships at all four majors. He has nine major titles overall, and having filled in the last big gap on his resume, the discussion now focuses on whether — or when — he can be considered the best of all time.

“I think the talk about if I am better or worse than Roger is stupid, because the titles say he's much better than me,” Nadal said of Roger Federer, who has a record 16 Grand Slam tournament titles to his credit.

Time will tell, but time is on Nadal's side.

He is 24 years old, five years younger than Federer, and has eclipsed the halfway mark to Federer's record.

Federer could still add to his 16 and set the bar higher. But he is on the back end of his career. All signs point toward Nadal being at or near his peak.

Long considered a clay-court specialist who later figured out how to win on the grass at Wimbledon, Nadal is one of those rare elite athletes who actually doesn't make it look easy. He grinds. His sneakers squeak loudly with every change of direction. He whips his arms violently on every groundstroke. He sneers and smirks and grunts.

All this, the thought went, could never bode well for his chances at Flushing Meadows, where the hard, fast court, the softer ball, the wind, the crowd, the New York pressure and the cumulative effect of the long season always wore him down all too quickly.

This year, though, he came to the Big Apple as ready as he'd ever been.

“Players said Rafa could never win on hardcourt because he played too much topspin, he's too physical,” said Nadal's uncle and coach, Toni Nadal. “And now I believe there's not much that the players he plays against can argue with.”